I ain’t afraid of no monsters! The best monster games for iPhone

Although it is often said that monsters are among us – and maybe we all accommodate monsters in our souls who we must defeat over and over again to maintain our true selves -, the imagination of human beings is infinite, and we’ve been busily populating it with thousands of monsters ever since the dawn of mankind. Monsters come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities, and thus can serve as potent nightmare fuel on account of being absolutely terrifying, and can also be lovably cute and clumsy – just think of Sully in Monsters, Inc. Oftentimes, monsters are much more than man-eating abominations, as they function as unconventional symbols of our deepest fears – fear of ourselves, fear of fellow human beings, fear of the unknown, and fear of the past, to name a few typical examples. Monster encounters – even if they do not go down in real life – are not for the faint-hearted, so if you’re the type of person who’s unable to sit through a horror movie without covering their eyes 90 percent of the time, the iPhone monster games we’re about to introduce will scare your pants off – but isn’t that what monsters are for?

1

Forgotten Memories: Alternate Realities

Forgotten Memories: Alternate Realities is a classic survival horror game that – we suppose very much intentionally – pays homage to the legendary Silent Hill-series. The game features a deep psychological storyline with plenty of unexpected twists and even more horrific monsters, atmospheric environments, beautiful 3D graphics, challenging gameplay, convenient touch controls, no in-app purchases (praise the Lord of Monsters!), and A-plus voice acting. As for the story, Forgotten Memories puts you into the shoes of Rose Hawkins, a strong, independent woman looking for a missing child called Eden (symbol alert!). When Rose regains consciousness, she founds herself in an eerie place, physically wounded and emotionally scarred. After the initial shock, she realizes that she has no choice but to face her deepest fears waiting for her in this godforsaken place in order to finish her investigation and put an end to this terrifying case.

2

Adam Wolfe: Dark Detective Mystery Game

A noir detective story slash psychological thriller spiced up with a dash of paranormal activity? We’ll take two! In Adam Wolfe: Dark Detective Mystery Game, you play as – ghost drumrolls, please! – Adam Wolfe, an investigator of the paranormal. The alpha and omega of the game’s immersing, deep storyline is a personal tragedy, as the goal is to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Adam’s sister, and in the process face your nightmares and unhuman forces and ultimately untangle what looks like an intricate conspiracy. The highlights of Adam Wolfe: Dark Detective Mystery Game include 52 jaw-dropping, hand-painted scenes, novel-quality storytelling, and heaps of challenging puzzles.

3

Lost Within

Blending the most typical characteristics of survival horror games and adventures games, Lost Within brings you blood-freezing monster-slashing action and a dark mystery waiting for you to uncover. The game set in no less than a haunted asylum where you have to fight for your life with makeshift weapons, fending off the attacks of gruesome monsters and ultimately face a legendary killer lurking around in the abandoned wards. Lost Within is not the type of game where you can go all out in your approach to decimating monster, so you must never forget that there’s no shame in either hiding or running – especially when your life is on the line.

4

Tormentum – A Point & Click Adventure

In Tormentum – A Point & Click Adventure, you play as an anonymous hero who finds himself stuck in a surreal realm full of nightmarish beings and places – and also finds himself stuck in a metal cage carried by an enormous, odd-looking flying contraption. Save for a sculpture standing atop a hill, he has no memory of his past, he doesn’t even remember his name, and as he traverses through forsaken lands, he struggles to find answers for the questions echoing in his mind. Tormentum features 75 haint-painted locations spread out over 3 distinctively different realms bursting with otherworldly architecture and strange creatures, brain-straining puzzles and mini-games, tough moral choices that will affect the way the game ends, 4-6 hours of gameplay, and an outstanding tracks made up of over 40 tracks. Tormentum costs $4.99, but if you’re a fan of surreal art, point-and-click games, grotesque monsters, and unique fantasy stories, it will definitely be money well spent.

5

Cthulhu Virtual Pet

Excuse me, dear sir or miss! Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, the almighty Cthulhu? The rock star of Lovecraftian ancient monster gods, Cthulhu, is worshipped all around the world by millions of devoted goat-sacrificing cultists fans. In this adorable virtual pet game brought to you in old school 8-bit glory, you have to take care of baby Cthulhu and make sure he (it?) develops into the gargantuan, planet-consuming monstrosity we’ve all learned to love throughout the years. Just like you would with a real-life pet, you can give him any name you like (we’d suggest something like Lord Tentacle or Bertram Purrington), and just like you’d have to with a cat or a dog, you have to take care of him – feed him so-called Witnesses, and keep him clean, happy, and healthy.

6

Five Night’s at Freddy’s: Sister Location

The latest installment of the gamer-favorite Five Night’s at Freddy’s-series leaves the infamous pizza joint, Freddy Fuzzbear’s Pizza behind to take you to Circus Baby’s Pizza World, where you’ll be working as a late night technician, and where you’ll be terrorized by bloodthirsty animatronic monsters. Five Night’s at Freddy’s: Sister Location, just like the game’s previous four installments, is grade-A nightmare fuel, and comes equipped with brand new locations and characters, all five nights from the PC version, a Custom Night feature, and an eerie mini-game.

7

The School: White Day

The School: White Day is the remake of “White Day: A Labyrinth Named School”, a PC game released in 2001 that gained a cult-like following all around the world from South Korea to the United Kingdom. This unconventional teenage horror story is set in Yeondu High School, an educational institution we’d never, in a million years, be willing to attend, as it is surrounded by mysteries and spine-chilling legends. The protagonist, Hui-min, is one of the hundreds of students attending Yeondu, but what makes Hui-min and a few of her friends special is that one day, they find themselves trapped in the school way after nightfall, when ghosts, possessed janitors, and other unspeakable horrors lurk in the abandoned corridors. Unlike in the majority of survival horror games, there’s little to no violence and gore in The School: White Day. There are no guns, knives, grenades, or makeshift weapons with which you could squash the skulls of the inhuman beings trying to take your life. All you have is your nimble feet, so if you see something unnatural, do what any normal human being would do when their survival instincts kicked in: run! Thanks to its rich storyline and a variety of possible endings, The School: White Day offers a high replay value rarely seen in mobile games.

8

Neo Monsters

And now something completely different! In Neo Monsters, you play as a young man who’s just inherited his uncle’s vast monster ranch found in the capital city of Othlon. The goal is to capture monsters, train them at your ranch to boost their abilities, then assemble the best possible team of 16 beasts – choosing monsters based on how their abilities complement each other is highly advised -, and enjoy action-packed monster battles in one of the several game modes. Neo Monsters features an over 60-hour-long single player campaign, 140 online missions, fierce PvP combat, and 6 leagues you can fight through to become the ultimate champion.

9

AVP: Evolution

If you thought this compilation would go by without two of pop culture’s most famous space marine-eviscerating monsters being mentioned, you were dead wrong, and furthermore, that’s crazier than thinking you can defeat a Predator in an all-out one-on-one fight. AVP: Evolution drops you right into the middle of a rivalry more brutal than Lakers-Celtics was in the 1980s, allowing you to choose sides. If you decide to play as a Predator, your mission will be to hunt down the mighty Alien Queen in order to stop the Super Predators from wiping out your clan of Jungle Hunter Predators. As for the Alien storyline, the objective is somewhat similar, and its gist lies in destroying the Super Predators and ultimately freeing your species from enslavement. Thanks to unique abilities, attacks, and weapons, both species offer a completely different gaming experience, so even if you’re strictly Team Alien or Team Predator, not giving each single player campaign a try is a punishable offense.

10

A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build

A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build is a lovable indie game capable of melting and breaking your heart at the same time. The game’s protagonist is a tiny little monster wandering in a hedge maze, building snowmen and snowwomen, giving his creations distinctive looks and different names to ensure that each of his new friends has their own unique personality. A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build is much more than a cute puzzle game: it is a testament to how creativity can take away – or at least lessen – your loneliness and to how art can help you cope with not being understood.